SOMETHING TRADITIONAL FOR THOSE WHO ARE MY FRIENDS AND ENEMIES
WELCOME TO THE NEW YEAR HERE ON EARTH - PLEASE TAKE A FEW MOMENTS TO LISTEN TO SOME MUSIC BEFORE YOU BEGIN READING
Today is the 21st day of 800...a small but first milestone.
Today is the Day of the Dead or All Saints Day depending upon what region of the world, and what religious persuation you might ascribe to. La Dias de Los Muertos has variations all over the world, and is possibly rooted in cultural hand me downs from prehistoric times. Some reminants and traditions, particularly in Southern Europe can trace rites for the Day of the Dead that predate the Druids. The idea of having a daytime procession or what we modern humans call 'a parade' is almost surely originally passed down from these most ancient rituals observing the turning of the New Year from earliest 13 month lunar calendar observances. In the far east, cults of worshipping the bones of giant beasts like Sabre Tooth Tigers and Mastadons was a kind of Day of the Dead ritualism found nearly in all pre civilized cultures. Burning of bodies adrift on water in the Viking Tradition is also a likely carry over ritualism.
But these are just the most modern carry overs.
Day of the Dead or All Saints Day is the marketing darling of the most corporatized bigotry.
Santeria, Voudou, Wicca, Odinism, Druidism, Spara, all showed their first leaps into socitey when they first became warlike and wished to keep concquering the unwilling particiapant into submission. Until they are all but drained....you know the type? Nay sayer, no body, late as some person. Should we tell him?
African Voudou, Hindu Kali worship, and all cultures practiced in buring or mummifying their dead ( In cluding Egypt, Babylon, and pre-exilic Judaism also are preservations from a much older stone age cult tradition. For sure we can trace rites of burial and servicing the dead, or ushering them into the afterlife are proven to be perfected as far back as the Neandertals. Burial and service of the spriits of the dead are assumed to have become sidely practiced somwhere between the periods of the first tool making by stone age humans, and was elevated to the point of burying corpses with flowers thrown into the graves at least that far back. But other traditions like grave robbing also can be traced to the later ice age, somewhere around the birth of hunting and gathering as a resource of survivial.
Do you think that anyone is really saying anything new...Anyone....any book, radio show, TV feed, even politics, religion, science, the arts, all of them have failed to provide the world with peace ?
Are you done wanting your keys, your beer, your clothes, your needs are they fulfilled at all?
Are you done being a dog and wagging your tail anticipating your bones??? Are you willing to ask that?
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE IS FORMALLY ONE THAT ALMOST NOONE HAS READ AND ALL TOGETHER FOR ME A BIG WASTE OF MY TIME, BUT I FEEL IT IS PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT ARTICLE THAT I HAVE EVER TAKEN THE TIME TO RESEARCH.
This is not an article passing judgment on any of the groups discussed, it is hoping to spread knowledge and tolerance. These are the 30 groups that are in line to be the 30 major influences on Religion and Spirituality and Scientific thought for the 21st Century. Hopefully the information has been helpful and educational. It was to me if nothing else. But I am willing to bet that almost all of you know a few of this groups well, and the rest you were only somewhat aware of, or know nothing about at all. The ranking of each is not an indication of numbers or importance. If they are on the list, trust me they are well established in the world, and you are interacting with them in you personal, spritiual, financial, or social life already. You just may not have ever known it.
Some of them you support everyday when paying your taxes, banking, or as a consumer.
But they all have one thing in common, they exist and will exist long after your life is over. They each well on their way to being a part of the next milleniums foundation of thought and culture.
In fact some of you have children or friends who are joining their ranks as we speak.
SUBVERT CULTURE - REVOLUTION FROM WITHIN - TRANSCEND YOURSELF
This is not an article passing judgment on any of the groups discussed, but in a time of religious and political discord, the only way to tolerance is knowledge and understanding of other people and their beliefs.
1) Christianity / Catholicism / Protestantism / Baptist- is both well known and the one that receives the most criticism. Christianity is simply the belief in Jesus of Nazareth, his life, teachings, death, and Resurrection.Christians worship one God with three parts, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Christian's accept Jesus their Savior from sin. They believe Jesus will come again in the last days. Their Holy Book is the Holy Bible that contains both Jew and Christian history. There are many factions and groups encompassing the modern Christan world as a whole.
2) Islam / Arab paganism / Jihad cults - founder Muhammad is believed to be the last prophet in a series of prophets that include, Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus. The Holy Book of the Muslim's is the Qur'an is regarded as the Word of God delivered to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. Teh Hadith contains Muhammad's sayings or actions he made during his lifetime. The Central Beliefs in Islam are the Five Pillars of Islam, which are: Profession of Faith. 2) Prayer 3) The Zakat(obligatory tax) 4) Fasting 5) Hajj (pilgrimage to Mecca if physically or financially able). Mecca is the birthplace of Muhammad and is the most sacred city in Islam located in Saudi Arabia.
3 ) Hinduism / Kali cults - is as diverse as the rivers within it so is the body of religion that exists within India, and its origins have baffled historians for years. According to some within the faith has always been there is no founder it just exists. The idea of reincarnation is universal in India, being born over and over again into a state of suffering until one becomes one with Being. Hinduism 33,333 deities with Vishnu who is the binding force that holds the universe together. The sacred writing of Hinduism is called the Veda and there are two western writings that stand out among the large collection of Hindu texts, The Upanishads and The Bhagavad-Gita. The Upanishads contains the basis of Indian philosophy, whereas the Bhagavad-Gita is a dialog between the hero and his charioteer.
4) Atheist/Agnostic/Secular/Self Empowerment cults - non-religious is a vast category and according to adherents has a following of 1.1 billion people. What's shocking is how high this category fits within the top ten of this list. This is the fourth largest movement yet it can be summed up like this: Lack of critical evidence of God's existence, the denial of belief in God, and more worldly than religious.
5) Neo-Paganism / New Age / Rosicrusianism / Freemasonry / Classical Pagan Revivalism - is mostly based on nature with most of their rituals and holy days tied to the change of seasons. They can be traced back to ancient times with the two most recognized being the Druids and Wiccans. Druids were intellectuals; they were inhabitants of the Celtic nations including Scotland and the Isle of Man. Their name literally means "wise oak" and their language is called Gaelic. They studied astronomy, philosophy, law, poetry and music but were forced underground by the persecution of the Christians. Wicca is a strong feminine religion they even have a ceremony to help women during their mid life struggles. Like Druids, Wiccans are based in Celtic society and again is a nature based religion.
6) Zen / Buddhism / TM cults - simply put is following and preserving the teachings of Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism. At the core of Buddhism belief is the Four Nobel Truths: a) all life is suffering. b) Suffering stems from desire. c) There can be an end to desire. d) The way is the Eightfold Path is eight rights, right view, right aspirations, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right meditations. The ultimate goal in Buddhism is to attain Nirvana, which may take several rebirths.
7) Voudou / Santeria / Diasporic - Cargo cults -are as diverse as Africa. Diasporic literally means a religion that is carried from its home to another location. Almost all religions can be classified in this way. The slave trades of the past in Africa is responsible for most of this diversion. With a large amount arriving in the southern Unite States. To lock down one belief structure in Africa is almost an impossible task because of all the diverseness involved.
8) Primal-indigenous / Aboriginal culture - refers to the diverse beliefs in Asia. Adherents had put the African Traditional in a separate category added this to cover the remaining diverse religions in the area but give no indication of who or what they are and since my research was unable to pinpoint any I wish not to offend anyone on speculation.
9) Sikhism follows the belief n one God and the teachings of Guru Nanak and the nine gurus who succeeded him. Sikh means follower in Sanskrit . Sikhism is based on over coming the five vices of greed, anger, false pride, lust, and love of material goods.They have the belief in reincarnation to the point of how you live this life what you will become in the next one. Eventually you will unite with the infinite one. It's also important to live a moral life that includes practicing loyalty, gratitude, philanthropy, justice and honesty.
10) Judaism / Kabbalah / Cabalism - is a personal relationship with God. According to belief God made the Jews His chosen people threw their patriarch Abraham. They believe in the one all powerful God Judaism gives us a history of these people along with other cultures and people. Some use the Old Testament as a history book and spiritual guide. For other religions a belief in Judaism is critical because Jesus was a Jew and practiced many of their practices.It gave Christians the royal linage of Jesus along with the ten basic laws that govern us and the Wisdom of Solomon.
11) Baha'i was founded by a descendant of Muhammad, Ali Mohammad of Shiraz, Iran. He declared himself a messenger from God and called himself the Bab (gateway). Baha'i teaches there is one god who is unknowable and wishes to create a peaceful and just society. He called to break free from the Islamic ideology. He was arrested and executed when he was declared a rebel and heretic.
12) Juche is a philosophy that was created by Kim II Sung to promote his ideas in the form of a personality cult around himself and his family. Juche is the belief we are the masters of our own destiny and guided by the Great Leader. Kim merged the aspects of Marxism, Leninism, and Maoist into Juche.
13) Spiritism / Enochian Magic / Trance Medium cults - is the belief that the dead speak to the living threw mediums, auras, telepath, clairvoyance and trance speaking. Spiritualists believe that God is the Supreme Being and creator of all things but also believe in the incarnate spirits. Spiritualists do point out that there is no scientific evidence to validate the spiritual claims of traditional religions.
14) Jainism along with Hinduism and Buddhism are the three most ancient religions in India today. Jainism is simple; they wish to overcome their feelings of hate, greed, and selfishness in order to achieve bliss. They also renounce materialistic needs and practice non-violence.
15) Shinto - followers believe in Kami the spiritual essence that exists in gods, humans, animals, and inanimate objects. They have no founder or sacred scriptures but their guiding beliefs have survived threw he ages. Purification of mind and physicality is at the core of this religion. It's hard even for the followers to put in words about their belief the best way is that Kami is a continuation threw time.
16} Cao Dai was formally established in 1926 in which Ngo Van Chieu became its prophet. Followers spread out over Vietnam, Cambodia, France, and the U.S., but its main home is in Tayninh, near Ho Chi Minh City.This religion draws from many other religions including Jesus, Confucianism, Taoism, and Muhammad.
17) Zoroastrianism looks at humanity as an ongoing struggle between good and evil. Their Holy texts are the surviving texts that were salvaged after Alexander the Great's conquest of Persia, it's called the Avesta. Ahura Mazada is the supreme God of this religion with good and evil represented by his offspring, Spenta Mainyu / good and Angra Mainyu / evil. At death a person is judged by their ethics they lived by in their lifetime.
18) Rastafarianism / Post-Punk Anarchism - says they believe themselves to be reincarnated Israelites. They believe Africa to be their heaven on earth where whites will be compelled to serve them. To them Haile was the divine champion of the black race. Rastafarians are mostly vegetarian and wear their hair in dreadlocks and consume marijuana as sacrament.They take their name from former Ethiopian Haile Selassie I precoronation name, Ras Tafari.
19) Chinese traditional religion - comprises the religion that is practiced in much of China, which includes ancestor worship and Chinese mythology, it is blend a combination of Taoism, Buddhism, and Confucianism in their religious ceremonies. Along with communication with the sun, moon, earth, animals and the heavens there is a strong ancestral bond also within this belief. The Chinese dragon is one of the key religious symbols in these beliefs.
20) Universalism/Unitarianism merged in 1961; both groups share the same Protestant traditional beliefs that very from one group to another. Although they believe in a monotheistic God but denies the divinity of Jesus. They are one of the fastest growing Christian offshoots in the United States.
21) Tenrikyo is a large division of the Japanese Shinto religion (worship of nature spirits and ancestors). It was founded by a peasant girl from the Yamato province who claimed she was possessed by the,"Lord of Divine Wisdom" (Tenri O noMikoto). The doctrine emphasizes charity and healing disease through the mental acts of faith. The goal in Tenrikyo is to be free from suffering.
22) Scientology has about half of a billion followers with growth continuing with the addition of prominent celebrity involvement. Scientology was started by novelist Ron L. Hubbard author of Dianetics. Scientology claims they can free the human spirit from its bondage to materialism and the world by a process called auditing. They also draw on eastern philosophy and modern psychology.
23) Twelve Step Programs are a major part of the modern society worldwide, and while they do not practice what is a religion or claim to be one - they will inevitably be on of the most important influences on the new world of religions persons from all denominations. Being such, they have to be included, for they do have many earmarks of a spiritual movement, and teach guiding and moral growth to millions of individuals daily - are self supporting, and already have many self sustaining factions helping better people of all races and beliefs. A.A.,Alanon, ACA, O.A., N.A. are just a few of twelve step program groups.
24) Technopaganism-shamanism / Psychadelic-Utopianism - This is a relatively new kind of twist on the outlooks of what are traditionally called paganism. In essence the key idea is that modern technology, devices, computers and artifacts of the post-industrial world can be used as sacred or magical tools, just as the challis or athame have been in classical and neopaganism. Also technopaganism sees modern musical styles, synthesized writing, digital arts, and even computer code as sacred music, text, and basis for what older religions would have used hymns and scripture to supplicate. This is a wide subject and would be unfair to discuss without further discourse.
25) Discordanism / Nihilism / Temple Of Psychic Youth / O.T.O. - This is the incorporation of the existential idea that morality does not truly exist, and that any such ideas in a dogmatic system are artificially contrived. So is the discordianistic idealism, that chaos, discord, and dissension are more desirable qualities in a true human being, than are harmony, faith, and order as proposed by religions in former centuries. Also the scientific and skeptical model of reality is upheld. Therefore true knowledge is not possible, and that despite what we wish to believe, reality does not inherently exist as such. Nihilism is a vein of many subcultural beliefs. Most profoundly in the ideas of anarchism, ecological movements, and modern Satanism.
26) Post-Millennialism /Apocalyptic & Doomsday cults - These may come in many forms, there have already been such groups formed around Y2K and ones are currently forming in Jihad groups, Christian Apocalyptics, and currently around the 2012 Mayan calendar. They are not all dangerous or bad, but they are something to watch on the horizon. You might also include the Process Church of the Final Judgment in this Group.
26) Starseed / Plaeidian / Alien & UFO cults - UFO cults are not large in numbers, but there are many around the world. They are formalized and corporatist in the structure for the most part, but we all have to remember the Heaven's Gate group during the Hale Bopp Comet. During the 2012 Mayan calendar year, these groups - or at least some of their more influential movements and leaders are likely to gain a great deal of influence.
27) Aryanism / Neo-Nazi Zionism / Secular Christian cults - These are nothing new in America, they are offshoots of the Hells Angels, Aryan Nations, ZOG, and usually have a Pro-Christian Identity and Anti-Semitic overtones. Many are small and fringe. and mostly exist in America. Although Aum Shinrikyo in Japan was an example of an international organization that has this same earmark and belief system.
28) Environmentalism / Eco-Apocalyptic cults - Groups like ELF in America have been showing their heads off and on for a decade, The Unabomber was a single person, and is representative of this element in the sense that these groups are usually small and unorganized. Although some would argue that larger group festivals like Burning man in America are the early stage of a larger movement, this is not a judgment just a point of view.
29) Satanism / Luciferianism / Vampire cults - Modern Satanism is more related to Discordian philosophy, or considers itself a pseudo offshoot of Christianity. These groups are mainly influence by a more corporate fashion and music affiliation. But there are small groups that take their beliefs very seriously.
30) Cyberneticism / Artificial Intelligence / Bio-Synthetic cults - These are a coming trend,that I predict you will see more of as the 21st century continues. They are akin to atheism, technopaganism, but have many fringe elements, and will become larger than Scientology within the next two decades is my prediction. Or opinion, take it for what it is.
"I like nonsense,it wakes up the brain cells.
Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living,
its a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope.
Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities."
-T.Geisel / aka Dr.Suess
Hey Blake... can you email me some details about the video/artist in this post? I really like the selection/vid and would like more from this artist to listen to.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!
IAOTIO! Nice smile in the bottom pic
ReplyDelete:)